CHICKLETS 101

RSS FEEDS AND PODCASTING

I recently came across some online information about RSS Feeds and where i can get the best chicklets. I found this in one of the new Podcasting books thats out. After following the instructions I visited the sites where this was posted and found out that some of them didn't perform very well.

My Yahoo, My Google, and a few other chicklets didn't link properly once i got them into my blog template. So I selled out a big 6 bucks to get it done right.... and I went to Feedburner.

I am very happy with this service and I learned something that I never suspected. Out of the 20 odd chicklets they posted I only added a handful as you can see. But the most number of subscribers came from services like ROJO and Bloglines..... I ran a test on my other blogs and I don't think you should second guess any of these smaller news feed readers.

They are all pretty important. On one hand it may look a bit gaudy to have all of them running along side your posts but its better to be safe than sorry. Especially when Feedburner boasts that it can track thousands of subscribers for you. This is a great service when you want to really find out who is reading your posts.

Find out more here:
http://www.feedburner.com

When you get an account you get a graph to tell you what service your subscribers are signing up under. This is helpful to know. There are so many blog search engines, podcast search engines and RSS connections out there now that getting an accurate thumbprint of your traffic is downright crucial. It is going to save you a ton of headaches down the road.
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Ted Cantu owns WebCrush and works in SEO, Copywriting and showing companies how to reach top search engine rankings.

How to Launch a Career With Your Blog

The following comes from Fast Company Magazine,

Your blog can get you the career of your dreams.

Silicon Valley start-ups and media behemoths aren't the only ones realizing the rewards of the rebounding Web economy. Already, many A-list bloggers have generated significant income from running advertisements on their blogs. Though with an estimated 53.4 million blogs expected to launch by year-end, according to Perseus Development Corporation, it's safe to assume that not everyone is going to get rich from blogging. So what's in it for the up-and-coming blogger, beyond creative self-expression?

Blogging can be transformative -- placing you on a new career path, earning you a book deal, or catapulting you into the field of your dreams. Just ask some of the folks we spoke with.

"My blog has led me to change my life," says Jeff Jarvis, author of the media and news blog, Buzz Machine. "I left my corporate job to take the consulting gigs, speaking gigs, and writing gigs that have come my way as a result of the reputation I built up through my blog."

Read more about it here.......
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The real question is can this really work? That is, work for you?
Granted, this is very time consuming and it can actually turn into an obsession. But the benefits of working this way you will have a definate shot at getting into your niche market. By talking and communicating interactively with your audience base you can boost your chance of making a new market for yourself.

The ones who have already have discovered the power of this have even quit their day jobs. Many are pursuing things they really love to do such as sell wine full time. Others have written ebooks, sold audio courses on every niche market you can think of.

This year we have estimated roughly 54 Million blogs in existence.
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Ted Cantu owns WebCrush and works in SEO, Copywriting and showing companies how to reach top search engine rankings.

HARDCORE DIRECT MARKETING PODCASTS

Click here to get your own player.

Capture More Customers With Audio !

WebCrush - is my latest addition to my company. It is dedicated to helping companies get a higher search engine ranking on their websites. I have been beating out some pretty incredible numbers lately.

I took a subject and beat out 1,890,000 pages and got into the top ten of that niche market. There are so many tools to help propel you into that sort of limelight. You can read more about it here.......

http://www.911copywriters.com/pod_2.html

Using audio is an absolutely fantastic way to gain more market share. The numbers beat out traditional radio broadcasting. In fact, the response rate isn't even close. I was able to pull a couple thousand listeners coast to coast off my recent podcasts. Try doing that with a traditional radio commercial. When you look into the real numbers of what it takes to get a audio commercial off the ground and how to profit from it you'll quickly note that its pricey.

If this doesn't get you excited about online marketing I don't know what will. This can trun into sales. But it gets a little trickier from there.

You can find out where your audience is coming from. You can find out where they access the internet, (universtiy, school, township etc) and this can help you when you want to place some ads. Now you know how to target your approach with more efficiency.

Try this tool to capture your audio.....
Audio Wiz makes Web Audio easy

Here is another resource for Windows users
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows

The report that we are going to release has some nice tips in there. You will find that by using a combination of technques you can reach that Top Ten spot too.

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Ted Cantu owns WebCrush and works in SEO, Copywriting and showing companies how to reach top search engine rankings.

RING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH GO DADDY

YOU GUYS LIKE COMEDY?

I was quoted a 17 thousand dollar hosting fee this morning. I couldn't believe it. Yes it was for the full year but I still couldn't understand the value of paying that much! COULD YOU?

Then after I calmed down a bit I got a email from the folks at Go Daddy. So I read it and was literally blown away with the new hosting plans they have to offer.

Here they are.....

Upgraded! Hosting Plans From $3.99/monthIdeal for most individuals and small business. Featuring up to 200 GB disk space, up to 2,000 GB bandwidth, database(s) and FREE scripts. See all plans

Virtual Dedicated Server Plans From $29.99/monthConvenience and cost-effective server control. Featuring up to 50 GB disk space, up to 2,000 GB bandwidth, up to 3 dedicated IP addresses, and full admin access. Build your Virtual Dedicated Server

Dedicated Server Plans From $88.99/monthThe ultimate in performance and server control. Featuring an Intel® Celeron® or Pentium® processor, up to 2,000 GB bandwidth, up to 2 X 120 GB disk drivers, up to 2 GB RAM, and full admin access. Build your Dedicated Server
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You know it is difficult to find fault with a company that is this generous.... yeesh. They even tell you the specs of what you are paying into. I like that.

I told the first guy who quoted me what I was looking to do online with my site and campaign. He said, "Kid, your about to unleash a bull in the china shop... know what I mean?"

Why? Cause I asked for some web analytics and some podcasting?

Be careful out there when you choose your SEO, Podcasting, Web Analytics "experts". Especially now that most of the incredible innovations have been unleashed in the last 6 months.

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Ted Cantu - FASCUBE - 2006

FANTASTIC MARKETING IDEAS FOR $10 EACH !

IS YOUR MARKETING BUDGET TIGHT?

The latest article posted on Entrepreneur Magazine.com (www.entrepreneur.com) has a great article on how to market yourself cheap. Most of these I already know about..... and maybe you do too. You can see the whole list here.......

Here is the one that made me smile......

"Instead of putting a 39-cent stamp on an envelope, put 39 1-cent stamps on the front of an envelope. One of the principles of direct mail is to stand out to get the attention of the receiver so your mail isn’t thrown away or ignored. Attention, interest, desire and action lead to a successful direct-mail program. And anything you can do to get attention increases the probability of action being taken. Best of all, in this case, you won’t even rack up any additional costs."

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Ted Cantu is the creator of Mobile Cast and http://www.911copywriters.blogspot.com he has handled the marketing for such innovative groups like http://www.WindsorBeauty.com and contributes to several blogs and podcasts such as….. http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.

ITS JOE VITALE - (without the big price tag !!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS !!!

Last year Joe Vitale came out with a big Hypnotic Marketing kit that had a hefty price tag. I must also point out that there was a very VERY limited time frame in which you could purchase it. Needless to say that when this thing hit the market they sold out in a matter of hours.

Every once in a while this kit will pop up on Ebay but not very often. Hypnotic Marketing was roughly $600 bucks to own. Now, I will say that it was definately WORTH IT. I have seen copies of it thanks to a caring associate.

But now his formula for writing powerful copy is here in a this handy $20 version !!! Now I admit, I AM A GEEK when it comes to marketing and i follow the likes of Dan Kennedy, Corey Rudl and Joe Vitale very closely. They make this entire marketing game fun and exciting. But what is really great about this book is that it is affordable. When I was getting started I would have been on cloud nine if I could get some answers like the ones printed in this book. I had a chance to thumb through it today and its a winner folks.

I have my own formula for getting to the "YES" and it takes roughly 9 steps. I always said that money was the final step. You have to build trust, believability and show some proof about what you can provide. From there on it is a matter of coming to a reasonable conclusion. But here it is again in a fresh format from millionaire maker Joe Vitale, Mr. Fire himself, giving you his very own power plays.

This was released this month. I would guess most likely this week. I check the marketing books pretty regulary and have never seen this before. This is pure candy -- that is to say, 100% usable marketing material.
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Ted Cantu can be found at Web Crush Marketing and works out of Walled Lake, MI

MADNESS VS MAXWELL HOUSE

WHAT IS THIS ?

Before I go off the deep end I have a question for you.
Do you know how many board meetings it takes to get a clip like the "maxwell house" spot off the ground?

A Lot.

Thats a lot of late nights, a lot of memos, a lot of meetings and a lot of crappy take out food. Thats a lot of 80 hours weeks and a lot of unnecessary beaucracy. To be trite, its a lot of wasted time.


I don't know if some knucklehead was looking for a promotion or what when they chose to ruin a classic Madness tune. But the song, "Our House" was not about selling coffee. IN fact, it had nothing to do with coffee.

The song, "Our House" was about dreary life in a drab town that celebrated the little things in life in a congested household. It was catchy and it was fun -- end of story. Because Americans didn't have a lot to offer MTV it got a lot of airplay in the early 80's. As Americans started to produce rock videos with over the top budgets we saw a lot less of the UK influence.

But that was years ago.

This song embarrases me for some reason. On its own I can listen to it. I can watch the original video time and time again. But when you put it in a commercial it takes on a very different meaning. There are more in this series where the gang at Maxwell House church it up a bit with some choir singers, (O Lordy). These spots actually do get a bit worse. This one takes place in a firestation.

The reason why I don't think it works well is because this is an english band with a fun post ska beat. The video is classic and the song shouldn't be toyed around with. It belongs in its own category. Imagine hearing a Tom Jones song for a tampon commercial, "She's A Lady" for example. Or what about..... "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones for Viagra.

I should shut my mouth now, I'm probably giving execs ideas for their next raise. But this is very interesting AND this is where you should be careful when you create your own marketing message. The people in the neighborhood that lived in this firestation loved this spot. They even wrote in fan mail. I suppose they were excited to see their community put on the map.

But what about the rest of us? I don't feel impulsed enough to run out and get some of this stuff for myself. I don't even drink Maxwell House because I find it to be very weak. This commercial talks directly to the firestation, the employees of its firestation and the neighborhood that it serves but it doesn't communicate to nobody else.
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CANTU - FASCUBE - 2006

MAXWELL HOUSE COMMERCIAL - OUR HOUSE

MADNESS - OUR HOUSE

UK WEB DESIGN MAGAZINES

TALES OF THE ULTRA-GROOVY

It amazes me how month after month WEB DESIGNER magazine from the UK -- takes the lead in online communication.

I was cleaning out my office and moved a stack of these and found something that well.... sort of jumped out at me. I had an issue that dates back to well over a year ago. They were championing the idea of cell phone interactive media. In fact, there were templates included on CD-ROM and step by step instructions on how to do this using conventional tools as well as extentions that you could download.

Now, the cell phone companies in America are stepping up on production requirements ready to meet the challenge. This magazine is ahead of the curve once again.

Its not easy to find but its worth picking up. It costs three times as much as an American publication but its filled with things you can use. Make sure you look for it the next time you are in Barnes and Nobles and Borders. Think of how many bad books there are out there that won't even come close to providing 10% of the good information you will find here......
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http://webdesignermag.co.uk/

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Article written by Ted Cantu, freelance correspondent for FASCUBE, The Fashion Culture Beauty Network. Cantu handles online marketing, copywriting, graphics, SEO - SEM, Blogging, Podcasting and can be found on his home site of www.911copywriters.com. Cantu is located in Walled Lake, Michigan.

IMC - INTERNET MARKETING CENTER - TOUR DATES RELEASED

INTERNET WEALTH BUIDLING WORKSHOPS ARE HERE..

Here is a partial list of the new tour thats coming so listen up.

January
20, 21 in 2007
Houston, TX

Atlanta, GA
January 27,28 in 2007

Dallas, TX
January 27,28, in 2007



Here are the dates for Detroit, Michigan:
Ebay Workshop
February 25, 2007

Wealth Building
Detroit, MI
March 10, 11 in 2007

I've had the chance to study with IMC and Derek Gehl and let me tell you these guys are amazing. The Ebay workshop should be pretty good too. I know that when I met Brandon Dupsky in person the experience was pretty intense. This was the guy who pulled 8 million dollars in a year. I learned how he did it and becuase of the time frame he was not able to tell us all the amazing strategies that he put in place.

Make it a point to attend some of these. You may even want to see if you can go to them in different towns. There is so much information, that is, GOOD INFORMATION that you and your company can definately benefit.

** For those of you who are new to the IMC this is Corey Rudl's Group. You can read more about them here....

Internet Marketing Center®
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Ted Cantu is the creator of www.911copywriters.com and the www.fascube.blogspot.com network. He resides in Walled Lake Michigan.

Copywriting Essentials

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!

HERE IS A FREE COPYWRITING SESSION JUST FOR YOU.....
I was cleaning out my internet Favorites list and came across this gem by Michel Fortin, the CopyDoctor. This is a really great onscreen video that spells out the basics of Copywriting. He works through a headline process and sets up a sales page. It moves pretty quick so you may want to take some notes.

http://www.thecopydoctor.com/sampler/samplerhigh.html

Check that out its pretty good. The other thing is that he is using Camtasia to capture the visuals of what he is laying out on the screen which is nice.

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Article written by Ted Cantu, freelance correspondent for FASCUBE, The Fashion Culture Beauty Network. Cantu handles online marketing, copywriting, graphics, SEO - SEM, Blogging, Podcasting and can be found on his home site of www.911copywriters.com. Cantu is located in Walled Lake, Michigan.

THERAPY - NOW THAT WAS EASY.

I was reading up on my blogs and RSS feeds and came across some interesting informaton. The Staples chain is famous now with their Easy Button campaign. But along the way this thing actually became a real product that you can buy. Its mostly a novelty gift idea for the office.

But lately its taken on a new theraputic turn. Its also being given to people in the hospital with cancer and other serious illnesses. This is not what it was intended for but that is how its being used. This is interesting to me and a little odd. It has gotten the company some very good press, ( no pun intended).

Now if they can figure out a way for this button to fix web copy. Hmmm?
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Ted Cantu Fascube 2006

Internet Marketing Must Have of 2006

Yes, I know the year is almost over but listen up......

There are so many factors now in online marketing that its easy to flub up here and then and forget a few things. There are a lot of necessary techniques that we forget because we get too busy to notice. Now there is something that really puts the critical steps on the line.

Here are some questions that come up in the sales letter on this site:

#4 - Do you spend months adding meta-tags & keywords to your website but neglect to submit your website to search engines, do paid placement and paid inclusion?

#5 - Do you have a blog but not an RSS feed? Do you have an RSS feed that you haven't submitted to blog directories?

Sound familiar? Yes, I still get questons on what an RSS feed is..... About 15 questions a week to be exact? Do you have yours in syndication yet?

Check out this resource and see for yourself. Its a pretty interesting companion to your own online marketing campaign.

Internet Marketing Matrix - Strategies & Tactics for 2007

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Ted Cantu is the creator of Mobile Cast and http://www.911copywriters.blogspot.comhe has handled the marketing for such innovative groups like http://www.WindsorBeauty.com and contributes to several blogs and podcasts such as….. http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.

Free Advice From Stephen Pierce

Anytime you can get FREE advice from Stephen Pierce you should listen. WHY? Because this guy knows what he's talking about and he's freakin' expensive.

But seriously folks this clip was taken from The World Internet Summit and it also features Direct Marketer Extroadinare Brett McFall.

Brett McFall Blog

Enjoy !

Got A Product? Sell It On EXPO TV

Expo TV is a new video solution to product research, with thousands of consumer-generated reviews and product demonstrations all available in full-motion video. The site features thousands of Videopinion reviews - short, unbiased consumer-generated videos reviewing products that members love or hate. In addition to the Videopinion reviews contributed by our community, the site also provides consumers with informative ‘how to buy’ videos and product demonstration videos contributed by our advertsing partners.

Source - ExpoTelevision
http://expotv.com/

Labeled as the future of shopping, Expo TV lets the viewers rate the products that are being featured. This company was just awarded 6 Million in financing. Its also backed up with Time Warner in an exclusive cable deal. This will allow Expo TV to be transmitted into the homes of 20 Million households. This takes the idea of epinions a little futher by letter customers interact with the brands that are being sold.

Ted Cantu is the creator of Mobile Cast and http://www.911copywriters.blogspot.comhe has handled the marketing for such innovative groups like http://www.WindsorBeauty.com and contributes to several blogs and podcasts such as….. http://911copywriters.podomatic.com. He served as a top rated art director for Interactive Web Marketing groups in Chicago and New York City.

CRAINS DETROIT GOES MOBILE

Its already happening....
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=mobile

There was a small blurb this week on the lower left hand corner of the latest issue of Crains Detroit Magazine. The news is that Crains Detroit is now mobile. The features are a little plain but thats okay - this shows promise.

The articles are smaller but the pages are in the proper XHTML Mobile format. That is worth mentioning. Just the other day I was commenting on this to a blogger and he told me it was a ways off yet and not to worry about it. Well, friends the future is happening as we speak.

Now if you want to really have some fun try loading in the very graphically dense www.windsorbeauty.com site onto your cell phone. The graphics shrink and the tiny screen tries to accomodate the entire look of the site which is commendable. The other thing you will notice is that it even goes as far as to load up the web video that I embedded. Pretty heavy stuff.

Of course the cell phone market cannot support the javascript language yet but that is coming. There are ways around that of course thanks to a combination of some technology by Nokia and AVI File formatting.

Is your company ready for mobile web surfing?
Your customers will be asking for it.
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Ted Cantu - www.911copywriters.com - 2006

Editable Marketing: Burger King Attacks

Pinch me I think I'm dreaming. I know I read about it in Forbes. I wrote about it on Hardcore Direct Marketing but now I just got a confirmation after seeing the ad on Comedy Central. Burger King is now a X Box Video Game.

And it looks GOOD. That's what scares me. It looks like its worth playing. The deal is that you can buy it for just $3.99 when you order a meal in the drive thru. They put a lot of work into the graphics, here... see for yourself.

Burger King has its own game site:
http://www.bkgamer.com/

The quality is over the top. But my BIG QUESTION IS WHY? I mean the level of professionalism is high end. The pre-loader for the Flash demo made me say... dayum. Then there is the issue of the screen savers and desktop art that you can download. Its all high end stuff.

But this crosses the line of advertising. Now we are getting past the 30 second spot and extending that time limit to ... infinity. In the right hands this commercial can last and last. And with the combination of a X Box 360 and a 20 something this is a pretty tight relationship. This will ensure more sales and return customers.

I know they said they were going to do it. But I was kinda hoping they were kidding. But its official and this is for real folks!!
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Article written by Ted Cantu, freelance correspondent for FASCUBE, The Fashion Culture Beauty Network. Cantu handles online marketing, copywriting, graphics, SEO - SEM, Blogging, Podcasting and can be found on his home site of www.911copywriters.com. Cantu is located in Walled Lake, Michigan.

Establish Yourself As An Expert - PRONTO!

Sadly, most of us don't do the basics, "because we don't have the time"......

But listen up to what http://www.smallbiztrends.com/ has to say on the subject:

"28. Get listed on local authority websites. Many cities will have a large, centrally operated online business directory. A link from a local government site (.gov) will boost your visibility and build your search engine rankings. Often that requires no more effort than doing a GoogleSearch for “(your city) business directory” and emailing the webmaster."

Look up this article for more information on this valuable topic:
Tips for Promoting Your Site — 99 of Them

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Ted Cantu Fascube 2006

Have You Geo-Targeted Yourself Yet?

One of my associates was complaining about his monthly full page ad bills, yellow page ads and we made some interesting discoveries:

1. Out of the five locations he was only listed once in
Yahoo Online Yellow Pages, (1 location)
2. The full page ads helped miscatorgorize his business.
Since the periodical that he advertised in talked mostly
about martini culture this actually hurt his presence online.
Some directories had mistakenly posted his business as a
martini bar! When in actuality it was a clothing business.
This was a costly mistake.

Without taking these necessary precautions his business was not getting the kind of recognition that it deserved. Now that is just the basics of getting your business positioned in your local geo target. Here is the really interesting part.

A lot of businesses neglect doing this simple thing. Yet, this is essential for your online success.
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Article written by Ted Cantu, freelance correspondent for FASCUBE, The Fashion Culture Beauty Network. Cantu handles online marketing, copywriting, graphics, SEO - SEM, Blogging, Podcasting and can be found on his home site of www.911copywriters.com. Cantu is located in Walled Lake, Michigan.

TED CANTU SEZ: "I LOVE ADRANTS"

Folks I have a new hero to announce.
Steve Hall of Adrants has the guts to say everything I would like to... if I had the guts !

This blog pokes fun at some of the more outlandish antics that go on in our advertising culture. It is informative and eye opening and worth a look. Even if you are not involved with advertising this can really be a 101 course on how your marketing messages are percieved.

There is a great podcast that goes along with this too and you can find it here....
http://www.hearthis.com/index.php/features/steve_hall_of_adrants/

** If you want my honest opinion you will learn more here in a few hours than you will with many of todays top marketing books. Its insightful, its hilarious and its dead on.
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Ted Cantu - Fascube - 2006

HARD TECH UPDATE: BLOG PLATFORMS

ANYONE RE-THINKING THEIR BLOG?

Check this out. According to the guys at: http://www.businessblogconsulting.com/
The reason to switch over to WordPress was obvious. Here is what they said.

"Because WordPress is such a popular blogging platform, it’s easy to find developers to work on it. It also certainly doesn’t hurt that WordPress is written in PHP — the most popular programming language on the planet!

WordPress is easily extensible through the use of plugins. Many hundreds of plugins exist already. It’s also pretty easy (if you’re a developer) to write your own plugins. That’s a lot more elegant that directly hacking the WordPress code base.

Maintaining inlinks to former URLs can often be accomplished just by making the “post slugs” (filenames) consistent with the old site then adding a rewrite rule to the .htaccess file that maps to the new URL structure. If that’s not possible, you can always create a comprehensive list of 301 (permanent-style) redirects to add to your .htaccess file.

So I made my case for running WordPress on non-blogs, based primarily on the positive impact on SEO that you’ll get out of doing so. This rounds out the reasons for switching to include compelling reasons beyond just search rankings."

Is that something or what?

THE BREAKDOWN
So of you want to get more out of your site and be seen this is the way to go. You will want to make sure that you are using whatever technology the search engine spiders are using. This makes the most sense so you are talking back and forth with them. Now... I do like Blogger and Beta Blogger because it is owned by Google. So its good to have a fair mix of blogs working with you so you can be seen on the web.

The correct combinations of blog software, RSS Aggregators, Podcasting shows and the right distribution networks are going to ensure your success. There is no "right" formula for doing this. But you definately can get some real search engine attention with just the right amount of "pinging". This new material on using WordPress gives you an edge.

Its worth checking out.
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Ted Cantu is the creator of www.911copywriters.com

COPYWRITING UPDATE: The Art Of Writing Like You Talk

Friends,

You can talk about your products in the most conversational tone. Thats why I love copywriting. Its story telling and its frank and honest. In fact, the best part about copywriting is that you do not have to be fussing over what is correct or what is proper.

I have just gotten rid of a nasty sinus infection and I fell behind in quite a few of my appointments. In fact, I even put some of that into my sales letters. While I was laid up in bed I was still creating new products and services. I was planning, reading and thinking of ways to expand my market.

Now to those who already know me this is perfect. But for those who don't it comes off as very low key and honest. Can you imagine being locked away in your sick bed for days on end with nothing to do but plan and scheme with no interuptions? It may sound like a bit of a headache to some but for me it was sheer heaven!

It also gave me a chance to check out some blogs on Wired.... For those who never check out Wired its worth a look.....

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/

Yahoo and EMI are partnering up in music these days:
http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/music/index.html

... and I was able to put these stories into my recent sales letters and share with prospects how they too can become part of this digital revolution. The response has been fantastic. Since everything you create can be tracked you really are in command of your own success.

Remember that copywriting doesn't have to be formal. In fact it should be far from it. Remember you are leading your reader through an experience and its the informal chat that is going to lead them into your offer.

Don't just throw a headline down and a price. Thats about as blunt as sticking a revolver in front of someones face for crikeys sake! Be tactful. Begin with a story. Any story. But better yet, make sure its your story!!

I had a client who missed my sales letters ! IN FACT, he pulled me aside and actually asked me to draft up one and make him a deal. He liked to be sold ! See?

IT WORKS. BE PRODUCTIVE.

But most of all be yourself.
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Ted Cantu is the creator of www.911copywriters.com and the www.fascube.blogspot.com network. He resides in Walled Lake Michigan.

New Opera Browser -w/ Phishing Protection

Check this out...
http://www.opera.com/download/

The latest Opera browser has a built in safety gizmo included to protect you from phishing scams. The other cool thing about it is that you can use it on your mobile devices such as cell phones and pocket pcs.
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Ted Cantu - Fascube - 2006

Cingular Chooses MYSPACE as Job Number One

This is from bizjournals.com Listen up,
Cingular, MySpace launch new Web service
Monday December 18, 11:06 am ET

"Cingular Wireless LLC is teaming up with the popular Web portal MySpace.com on an exclusive partnership to give their customers access to MySpace content through their cell phones.
The new service is available through MySpace Mobile on Cingular. This will give them the ability to edit their MySpace profiles, view and add friends, post photos and blogs and send and receive MySpace messages."

The add on service is only $2.99 a month - its being touted as a way for cell phone owners to stay in touch with friends and family. This article continues on and is light hearted. But a more interesting issue is that companies will be able to pull in niche markets and create online communities surrounding a product or service.
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Cantu Fascube 2006

911 Copywriters Presents Real SEO

"Internet Marketing Has Been Made Easy - And Here's Why You Should Care....."

Walled Lake, MI - Creator and founder of 911 Copywriters is back with a new take on internet marketing. His latest creation, we offer some pretty interesting features.

Its part SEO, part multimedia, (think podcasts and pod video media), and its 100% trackable. Every element of a campaign is now trackable thanks to a variety of web tools including Web Analytics.

But where this company sets apart from its competition is the penetration of niche markets. The distribution of this new pod media is specifically designed for hand held devices, (IPODS, Blackjacks etc.) and it delivers to a more select target market. This is a new way of distribution known as Narrowcasting.

The company is the latest offering from Ted Cantu, who served 5 major metro markets including Chicago and New York City where he served as Art Director for many top firms, (including work for Oprah, Capital Records, NBC, and more).

This type of programming is great for another reason. Since we are dealing with niche markets the number of online buys are much higher. When dealing with a group like this online it is not uncommon to have a 87% closing rate. Traditional media such as radio and television have a much smaller closing rate. Plus the ads are harder to track.

Cantu is able to tell how long visitors are on the site, where they came from, and what they are looking at. This is vital information as we are able to tweak our campaigns until we get them right. To read more about this company you can log onto:
http://www.911copywriters.com

Cantu Fascube 2006

Time Magazine - Announces Man of the Year

COMING TO A NEWS STAND NEAR YOU..........

This years, "Man of the Year" award is YOU. Imagine that. With so much user content coming from a variety of all walks of life - Everyones a Star !!

This was inspired by Youtube.com, MySpace, and the multitudes of blogs that are published out there, (last count 55 million and counting). The public at large is responsible for directing the web in how it looks, acts, and the messages that it delivers.

This was just featured recently on CNN. The real cover will have a sheet of mylar on it so it can give off a reflection. The magazine will continue this campaign overseas. Its the most daring one they have done thus far and easily the most challenging.

This puts the topic of SEO and taking responsibility for your own web site material. It is now official that you can litererally create your own destiny online and beyond.
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Ted Cantu writes for the FASCUBE Network - 2006

How Effective Is Your Media?

Click on picture to see it expand..... Check out these numbers. Here is where your audience is hiding out....

TRACKING YOUR ONLINE MARKETING EFFORTS

JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS A MARKETING PLAN?

It is crucial if you want to attract more business. Now take a look at this article from Entrepreneur Magazine. While analyzing a business plan up comes the following....

"Chart to success: We all know that plans are imperfect things. How can you possibly know what's going to happen 12 months or five years from now? Isn't putting together a marketing plan an exercise in futility . . . a waste of time better spent meeting with customers or fine-tuning production? Yes, possibly but only in the narrowest sense. If you don't plan, you're doomed, and an inaccurate plan is far better than no plan at all. To stay with our sea captain analogy, it's better to be 5 or even 10 degrees off your destination port than to have no destination in mind at all. "

Interesting eh?

Tracking real success sounds doable in a broad context. But when it comes to hard nose data this comes up rather short. Thats why I recommend using real Web Analystics to track your progress. This is an excellent way to track sales copy, ( to see if customers are going for your offers or not). This is also a great way to find out what kinds of computers or modems they are using to access your material online.

This also works when you are tracking direct mail campaigns. This lets you see who is coming to your landing page, and checking out click through rates.
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Article written by Ted Cantu, freelance correspondent for FASCUBE, The Fashion Culture Beauty Network. Cantu handles online marketing, copywriting, graphics, SEO - SEM, Blogging, Podcasting and can be found on his home site of www.911copywriters.com. Cantu is located in Walled Lake, Michigan.

So What Exactly Are Venture Capitalists Looking At?

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 16 — Wanted: investment adviser, the younger the better.

In a nod to the wisdom of youth, many wealthy, highly connected and well-educated technology investors are taking counsel and investment tips from their children, summer interns and twentysomething receptionists.

These venture capital investors say there is good reason to ask young people to help them assess new technology: as the investors themselves are aging, the technology — including social networking Web sites and mobile gadgets — is designed for, used by and sometimes built by people half their age.

“Children are a secret weapon in my arsenal for making investment decisions,” said Heidi Roizen, a managing director at Mobius Venture Capital, a Silicon Valley firm.
Source, New York Times

This is pretty interesting. The youth market is calling the shots on what works online. This is like in the movie BIG where Tom Hanks gets to play with the toys. Based on what the kids like companies can begin to create products that will get used. There is no more guessing when it comes to creativity.

Just how big is the youth market? The results may surprise you.
According to EPM communications the youth market will spend roughly 22 billion per year onilne. Kids age 8-21 currently spend about $22 billion per year online--about 16% of their total spending--according to the Harris Interactive YouthPulse Survey. Teens age 13-17 make between five and six online purchases a year, while those age 18-21 make 15 online purchases annually.

This can affect everything from the kinds of foods kids eat to the entertainment they choose. There is also a lot of room here for licensing characters to promote products.
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Article written by Ted Cantu, freelance correspondent for FASCUBE, The Fashion Culture Beauty Network. Cantu handles online marketing, copywriting, graphics, SEO - SEM, Blogging, Podcasting and can be found on his home site of www.911copywriters.com. Cantu is located in Walled Lake, Michigan.

WHATS THE BIG IDEA?

For the last 4 days I have been literally stumped over the disappearance of THE BIG IDEA magazine in Detroit. I have been looking for their web site and it comes up black.

http://www.bigideaweb.com

Anyone know what happened?
I tried to email them too and it bounced back.
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cantu fascube 2006

INDIA SEO FIRMS: Grabbing The Spotlight

Where Is All The Good SEO In America?

Another week of great innovations. Just this week it was mentioned on www.techcrunch.com that a brand new technology www.facebook is being valued at a phenomenal 8 billion dollars! Now the owners of this new community based software made a statement this week that they were not interested in selling.

There is a buzz among the tech circles that the bubble is here again. In fact, there is a lot of confirmation of this going around. The Wall Street Journal is talking about how retro dot com business plans can be purchased. In fact, they also claim that these far fetched ideas may actually work this time. This is due partly to the maturity of the interactive market.

All of this sounds fantastic. But why is it that so much SEO work is being shipped overseas? The two SEO firms that advertise with the journal are actually farming this work overseas to India.

Why are so many CEO's in America still in the dark about the new wave of internet marekting? What are these companies waiting for?
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Ted Cantu writes for the FASCUBE Network and lives in Walled Lake Michigan. He has mastered five metropolitan markets including Chicago and New York City.

AD TECH - LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO

ad:tech San Francisco 2006 was a tremendous success. Bringing together brands, agencies and industry participants in an energetic atmosphere provided a successful platform in which to conduct business and discuss current trends.

ad:tech 2007 will build on the success of previous shows and introduce new programs to enrich the attendee experience. We are expanding the Now and Next Technology conference session from a 2-hour Showcase into a 2-day Pavilion on the exhibit hall floor. And, San Francisco will be the new home of the ad:tech awards. Celebrating this 10th annual event, the ad:tech awards continue to recognize excellence in online promotion and advertising.

ad:tech provides the perfect venue for you to meet your contemporaries and bring your business its next great success. Connect with the industry participants who encompass the true spirit of interactive marketing.

Join us in a jammed-packed, 2-1/2 day event of intellect, innovation and fun.
Please visit our Web site in the near future for complete conference details, keynote speakers and exhibitor listings.
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To get more information get it from the source

Another red flag goes up as the tech wave begins. Where the first waves of interactive were for entertainment and medium business applications this new wave is different.

This one is going to be for profit. The lines are being drawn and smart companies are chosing their key players. Online marketing has matured and everything in a campaign can now be tracked including visitor frequency and how long they stay on your site.
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Ted Cantu writes for the FASCUBE, Fashion Culture Beauty Network and works as a freelance art director. He resides in Walled Lake, MI.

THE BIG BOOM AFTER THE BUST

This is the one you've been waiting for........

The latest crop of Internet Start Ups have returned to San Francisco. Even going as far as re-inhabiting the vacant old buildings on Second St. that used to originally house them in the Dot Com era.

After reading dreadful accounts of Dot Com employees fleeing the scene, sleeping in 40 dollar flop houses and companies tanking the BOOM is ON. The famous address 625 Second avenue where so many start ups have taken residence. This 135,000 square foot complex is coming back to life with a lot of incredible new offerings.

These companies are centering around online video, online gambling, and original blogging software just to name a few. This new flood of internet businesses are just what many tech professionals were counting on.

Since September, $455 Million dollars have been pumped into fresh new original online enterprises.
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Ted Cantu writes for the FASCUBE Network and can be found at his home site at www.911copywriters.com. He contributes to several sites and start ups in Walled Lake, MI.

Podcast Bible - We Hardly Knew Ye

IMAGINE my surprise last night when I hit the Borders in store kiosk. I had been waiting for the upcoming, "Podcast Bible" which is released this Feb. 2007

Once I was on the kiosk I find out that the book is OUT OF PRINT !!! You have to be somewhat good hearted about this type of blunder. In this information age we are bombarded with offers, deals and one of a kind specials that are just too good to refuse. This is becoming the norm.

But the Podcast Bible... tsk tsk tsk, I've been eagerly awaiting this release for a number of weeks. This is a new field for a lot of businesses and some are hoping that it will simply go away . But the truth is this is a direct link to your audience. Sure, on one hand, waiting around for a book to show you how to do it would be nice. But since a lot of companies lack the resources to do it then it is better to dive in head first.

But this Podcast Bible, (see picture above) is not the same one that is coming out in Feb. 2007. The book is coming out from a consultant from the Internet Marketing Center. Scott Paton, a podcasting pioneer, is a live speaker and active podcaster on the scene. But the name podcasting is so new that it hasn't had time to really catch on yet. Sometimes you go to put in a book search and the results will come back and say.... oh.. you mean.... Oddcasting? Rodcasting? Broadcasting? Don't be surprised to see the book disappear from the internet marketing section altogether.

SYNDICATING YOUR PODCAST - HIDDEN DIRECTORIES
Just because you type in your niche market directories online do not expect to necessarily find them. A lot of Meta Tag information in 80% of most sites out there today are totally inadequate. That is to say -- they are out of date.

Syndicating your RSS link can be equally challenging. But once you have a strong network out there puling in leads for you good things will happen.

More on this later.........
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Ted Cantu writes for the FASCUBE Network and can be found at his home site at www.911copywriters.com. He contributes to several sites and start ups in Walled Lake, MI.

Almost Mobile !!

Sunday I hopped out of bed looking forward to the mall opening its doors. I had just caught the tail end of the new commercial for the Blackjack on tv the night before. This commercial claimed that it had everything in one place, Video, Email, Web, all in one handy unit.

Well, almost.

I had gone through Cingular, Verizon, T-Mobile and found that looking up videos on YOUTUBE was truly possible. Except the videos that were featured were clips hand picked from Youtube.com and the phone companies. I couldn't locate my clips I had previously uploaded.

I found them.. but I couldn't play them in their native AVI file formats. The reason why was because the phones didn't support java script. However, other formats seemed to work out quite nicely. With a couple of modifications these clips were playable.

WORKING OUT THE JAVA SCRIPT ISSUE
This is something the cell phone people know about and are working on correcting. The prognosis looks pretty good. They forcasted that things should be all streamlined within 6 months.

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Ted Cantu writes for the FASCUBE network and as a freelance art director. He works on direct marketing and SEO tactics. He can also be found on a podcast on the podomatic network.

The Genius of Forward Thinking

The SES Chicago Convention Begins Today

"A premier event for search engine marketing and optimization, SES Chicago runs through Dec. 7 at the Hilton. Video search optimization, podcast optimization, local search, social search and mobile search are the hot topics. Jason McCabe Calacanis, general manager at Netscape, gives the Dec. 5 keynote. "

Nice to see this take off and get some real attention.

Chicago is a forward thinking town and was leading the multimedia parade in its third reincarnation before the dot com movement. Multimedia houses sprung up all over and had a significant voice in the industry.

This latest round of online marketing is honed to a sharp sword. The intricacies of web analytics, key words, copywriting, key word density and 50 other key elements are essential to getting noticed today.

It will be interesting to see the Midwestern market take center position in January when the new business quarter begins.

Its just days away folks.

The Return Of Seth Godin

I get a subscription to Seth Godins daily Blog... "Seth's Blog". Its riddled with stark cruelty at times.... honest, but a cruel sense of reality. SO I find it relevant and at times hysterical.
Today he had a picture of a sign that read, "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT"... and here is what he wrote about it....

"Another mystery to ponder.

Why would anyone put a sign like this up on her store?

If I liked your store before, now I'm on notice to be careful--it might not be as good.

If I didn't like your store before, why on earth am I paying attention to your little sign and why should I go out of my way to take another chance?

This is a vivid symbol of the ego-centric nature of most marketing. The sign is about the owner, not about the prospect."

Isn't this the case with most businesses today?

Blogging Platforms - What Should I Use?

I get asked this question a lot and believe it or not I like Blogger. No no no, not because its easier to use. But because Blogger lets Google knows about me first. It is owned by Google so that makes it very convenient for them to find me.

Yes.... I like Blogger... Honest !!

The new features are good too. This new Beta version has some rather cool features on it and it allows others to find me - fairly quickly! And if you play your cards right, (face it, not many of us do) you can really ping yourself to the top of the line in front of your competition. Rather nifty I'd say.

A Word About TypePad
You can set up style sheets in TypePad which is nice. It has a very polished look about it and they seem to update their features a lot. You have to pay to use TypePad because it is integrated into a hosting system.

The nice thing is that when you do host with them monthly you get three Blogs to fiddle around with. You can read all about TypePad here......

"You don’t need to be a professional designer or spend thousands of dollars to have a great looking blog."

Thats a quote from their web page..... Thousands of dollars for a blog? lol
Dear me I should hope not !!!
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Article written by Ted Cantu, freelance correspondent for FASCUBE, The Fashion Culture Beauty Network. Cantu handles online marketing, copywriting, graphics, SEO - SEM, Blogging, Podcasting and can be found on his home site of www.911copywriters.com. Cantu is located in Walled Lake, Michigan.